Flash-light-testing apparatus



G A LEY FLASH LIGHT TESTING APPARATUS.

AP PLICATlON FILED OCT- 27' 917- ,345 20 Patented June 29, 1920.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET W/ TNESSES G. A. LEY.

, FLASH LIGHT TESTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 27, 1911.

Pfitented June 29; 1920.

3 sun-:1 HEET 3 a (a Y o o o o WITNESSES IMIIEIVTO/i' A TTOHNEYS UNITED. STATES GEORGE ALBERT LEY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLASH-LIGI-IT-TESTTQNG APPARATUS. j

- Application filed October 27, 1917. Serial No. 198,829.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE ALBERT Ln'r, a citizen of theUnitedStates, and 'a resident of Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefullmprovement in Flash-Light-Testing Apparatus, of which the followmg 1s aspecification. i

My invention relates to improvementsin flashlight testing apparatus, being more particularly an improvement. on my Patent Number 1,217,026, dated February 20, 191?, and it consists inthe constructions, comblnations, and arrangements herein described and claimed I An object of the invention is to provlde a flashlight testing device includlng alamp box having a lamp socket mounted therein and adapted to receive either a high or low voltage lamp, a plug receptacle be ng fixed on the bottom of the lamp box to receive either a connector plug for. lighting a high tery voltage lamp, or the connector plug of a. batterybox adapted to be thereby alhxed.

a low voltage lamp.

:Another object ofthe 1I1V611tl0111S to provide a flashlight testing devlce .WlllCll is to the bottom ot'the lamp box, and light adapted to operate interchangeably from.

one current to another, such as battery current, and direct or alternating current.

Another object of the invention is to pro? vide a flashlight testing device, having a removable battery box, so that when'itis not desired to use the battery, a connector plug from the ordinaryv city current supply may be inserted.

Another object of the 1nvent1on is to pro- Vide a devicexas described, wherein aplu rality of flash pans -maybe connected in series and the flash powders ignited .SllIlllltaneously. v

Other objects and advantages Wlll appear in the following specification, referencebe" ing had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figurel is a perspective view of-the de- Vice, the sliding door of the battery of the lamp box bein removed.

Fig. 2 is'a etail perspective view ofthe lamp box showing it removed from the batbox and a connector plug being about to be inserted in place.

Fig. 3 isavertical illustrated in Fig. 1.

section ofthe device Fig. 4. is an inverted the flash pans.

plan view of one of v Specification of Letters Patent. Patented une 29, 1920.

Fig. 5' is a detail plan view of oneof the fuse cards. Y Fig. 6 1s a diagrammatic-view ofthe sec- 0nd connections.

Fig. 7 is adetail view showing how a plua .illustrated in order that a clearer understanding of the operation of the present device may be more readily gotten. The principal difference in the present invention, resides in the provision of a separate battery box which may be removed from the lamp box so that the lamp in the box may be illuminated by the ordinary city current. To accomplish this purpose, either alow voltage lamp capable of ignition from a battery,

. or a high voltage lamp capable of ignition from a city current connection, may be screwed in place in the lamp box;

Therefore, a plug receptacle 1 is fixed in place on top of a battery box 2,and is provided with a pair of metalsockets 3 into which the plugs 4 carried b a lamp box'5, are adapted to be fitted. The plugs 4 are mounted in dielectric blocks 6 on the bottom of the lamp box 5, the plug receptacle 1 in which the sockets 3 are located, being also lmade of some suitable dielectric materia The connection of the battery box 2 with V the lamp box 5 through the insertion of the plugs 4 in the sockets 3, simultaneously completes a portion of an. electric circuit, and makes a dependable connection for one box on the other, which will hold through considerable handling of the device.

It will be understood that the boxes 2 and 5 are separable. When the battery box 2 is fitted in position as justdescribed, current from a battery 7 located in the box 2 is supplied to a low voltage lamp 8 screwed into a lamp receptacle 9 in the lamp box 5. The arrangement of the parts at such a time is illustrated in Figs. 1' and 3. Should theuse of battery current to light a lamp in the lamp box 5 be undesirable, the low V the box 5. The switch arm 14 is adapted voltage lamp 8 and the battery '2 are 'removed. A plug receptacle lO'is slipped over the plugs 4, instead. The receptacle 10 has the usual wires 11 which are connected to any suitable source of the ordinary city current. A high voltage lamp 12 is screwed in position in the lamp receptacle 9 in place of the low voltage lamp 8.

In either case, i. 6., when the lamp SIor. the lamp 12 is in position, the resistance of the lamp'is sufficiently high to prevent the fuse 13 carried by the flash powder pan-14, from becoming hot enough to ignite the flash powder. In other words, the lamps 8 and 12 used in either connection, are of a sufficiently greater resistance than the igniting fuse 13', so that only as much current will pass through the fuse as thelamp will consume in lighting the lamp. It will thus be understood that when the fuse 13 is properly adjusted so that upon reversing the switch connections'presently to be described, the flash powder will be ignited, either the lamp 8 or the lamp 12 will'be lighted and thus indicate to the operator that the fuse is in such proper position and will not fail to ignite the flash .powder at the proper time. 7 i

The circuit connections may be best understood from Fig. 6. A switch arm 14 is pivoted at 15 on the outside of the lamp box 5. A wire 16 connects the pivot 15 with one socket 17 of a plug receptacle 18 in the top of the box. The other socket 19 ofthe same plug receptacle, connects through a wire 20, with one member 21 of a pneumaticswitch. The other member 22 of the pneumatic switch, is through a wire 23 with one of. the plugs4 mounted in the block 6 on the bottom of to engage either one of a pair, of contacts 24 and 25. The contact 24 is connected to the other plug 4v carried. by the""block 6, by a wire 26. Av wire 27 connects the other contact 25 with one terminal of the lamp receptacle 9. The other terminal ofthe lamp receptacle, is connected to the wire 26 through the wire 28.

The pneumatic SW1 consists essentially of the two members mentioned, of which the member 21 is fixed upon a dielectric block 29 secured in the lamp box 5, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The member 22 of the switch is movably mounted and is arranged to be pressed into engagement wlth the contact 21, upon the distention of a rubber teat 30 located between the contact 22 and the-base of the contact 21..

The teat 30 is distended by pressing a rubber bulb 31 connected through a tube 32 to a nozzle 33 frictionally held in the mouth of the teat'30 by a metallic plate 34 with a tapered collar upon'which the end of the teat 30 is slipped. V

- the fuse 13.

connected tch referred to above,

The fusei13 above referred to, as well as if the'flash pan 14, is of substantially the same 7 construction asthat illustrated in my former 'patent. 'The fuse 13 consists of a relatively 3 long wireheld ona card 35 by a plurality of metallic clips 36. The clips are spaced equal distances apart and are adaptedto be fitted into place beneath the flash pan 14,

in engagement with oneof a pair of spring contact arms 37 and 38. The contact arms 37 and 38 have binding posts as shown, to

which wires 39 which have the plug 40 at the other end, are connected. ..The plug. 40'

box 5. As each section of the fuse'l3 between the metallic clips 36 is burnt out, the card 35 is simply moved up until the next fuse section isin place and the metallicxclips,

36 at the side, are-in engagement with'the ends of the spring arms 37 and 38.

The flash an 14 has a hole 41 in the bots tomf The use section13 'is disposed di-* rectly beneath this hole. The flashpowder is then heaped upon the flash'pan 14, some of it enteringgthe hole 41'and'surrounding y heating the fuse 13 red-hot,

the flash powder, of course, ignites.

As incidental features of construction, the front wall of each of the boxes 2 and 5, is

'in the nature of a slide 42'and 43, respectively. The lateral edges of the sides of the boxes are suitably rabbeted to receive tongues on. the slides. Each slide also has a'thumb notch so that it may more readily be removed.

The slide 43 of the lamp box 5 has a window 44 which may either be open or be provided with a lens 45, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings;

Another-feature of the invention resides in connecting a plurality ofthe flash pans 14 in series, as illustrated in-Fig. 7. The

construction of .each of the flash pans and its cooperating parts, is in each instance the same. A connector46 is made use of for connecting certain portions of the wires. A.

flash pans. Obviously, were another flash pan 14 added, oneof the ends of the con-. nector wire 47 at the left, would be inserted into another connector 46, and so on. The

fuse of each of the flash pans is tested in the bottomof the flash pan 14, covering thev opening 41 and surroundingthe fuse 13 disposed at the bottom'of theopening It is now desired to be known whether the fuse '13 is in proper position to complete an elec.

trical circuit therethrough to heat the fuse and ignite the powderJThe'fuse 13 is in such proper position, when the spring-arms connector wire 47 joins eachipair of ;the V 37 and 38 properly bear on the metallic clips 36 at the sides of the fuse section. ously, should a particle of dirt et between one of the metallic clips 36 and its coacting spring arm, the circuit would be interrupted, and when the time came to ignite the flash powder, a failure to do so would result.

If a low voltage lamp is to be used in connection with the battery 7 the battery box 2 is slipped in place by fittlng the plugs 4 in the metal sockets 3, which thereby simultaneously form connectors for supporting the battery box, and also complete a portion of the electrical circuit to the lamp from the battery. The switch arm 14: is then moved into engagement with the contact 25.

The bulb 31 of the pneumatic switch 1s also pressed to close the circuit at the contact members 21 and 22.. Current then flows from the positive pole of the battery 7 over the lamp 12 screwed in place of it. The

switch arm 14: is moved over to the contact 24, when the passage of the current from the source through the fuse 13 will be substantially the same as it was before.

lVhile the construction and arrangement of the device as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and Obvi- When a high voltage changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim: 1. In a testing device interchangeably usable with high and low voltage currents, a

lamp box having a receptacle for a lamp, a plug on the bottom, a battery box, and a plug socket on the top of the battery box joining said'boxes when the plugs are fitted together, the battery box being detachable by separating the plugs when high voltage current is used.

2. In a flashlight testing device, the combination of the igniting mechanism, a light box containing a lamp in circuit with said mechanism,'an attachable battery box containing a battery, and a connector plug and socket on the bottom and top of the respective boxes, adapted to be fitted together to join said boxes and simultaneously complete the battery circuit.

3. A flashlight fuse testing apparatus comprising an electrical circuit terminating in plugs, a fiashpowder igniting fuse of an adopted gage embodied in the circuit and adapted to enable the operation of the apparatus regardless of the voltage of the current employed, a lamp receptacle in the circuit for receiving a lamp of either high or low resistance to enable the operation of the apparatus by either lighting or battery our rent, and a battery box containing a battery,

provided with a plug receptacle for completing the low voltage circuit and providing means for attachin the box. GEO ltGrE ALBERT LEY. Witnesses:

ETHEL HARTMANN, I J os. H. HEIM. 

